With the development of wired/wireless communication technology, the number of wired Internet users and mobile communication service subscribers are increasing daily. One of the advantages of these communication services is that information can be exchanged and conversations held using a variety of means, such as electronic (e)-mail, messenger service, a character message, or a voice mailbox, without a face-to-face meeting between individuals.
In particular, the voice mailbox service is a service in which a mobile communication system connects a calling terminal to a voice mailbox and allows the calling terminal to record a voice message when an originator attempts a call to a mobile communication terminal but the power of the called terminal is such that the called terminal cannot respond to it. When the called terminal becomes capable of responding to a call, the mobile communication system notifies the called terminal that a voice message has arrived, so that the called terminal may connect to a voice mailbox and a user may listen to the stored voice.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a general voice mailbox service method.
A mobile communication system 200 includes: Base Transceiver Systems (BTSs) 210 and 220 for communicating with mobile communication terminals 10 and 20 in a wireless region; a Base Station Controller (BSC) 230 for managing a plurality of BTSs; a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) 240 connected to the BSC 230 to exchange calls, and connected to a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 600 to enable a connection between a wired telephone 700 and a mobile communication terminal 10 or between a wired telephone 700 and a mobile communication terminal 20; a Home Location Register 250 connected to the MSC 240 to manage mobile communication service subscriber information, location information, and information related to supplementary services; a Packet Data Service Node (PDSN) 260 connected to the BSC 230 to enable packet data service; and a Data Core Network (DCN) 270 for connecting the mobile communication system 200 and the Internet 400. Furthermore, the MSC 240 is connected to a Voice Message Service (VMS) center 280.
In the mobile communication system, when a mobile communication terminal user transmits a voice call, the HLR 250 checks a routing path to a called terminal with reference to a called terminal number, and requests a call setup from a called MSC, and the called MSC transmits a paging signal to the called terminal. If the called terminal does not respond to the paging signal within a predetermined time, the called MSC switches the connection with the called terminal to a VMS center 280 and, as a result, a call is set up between the railing mobile communication terminal 10 and the VMS center 280.
Accordingly, the VMS center 280 transmits a guidance announcement, to enable a voice message to be recorded in the calling terminal and, thus, allows the voice message to be input from the calling terminal 10. The message is stored while matching the input voice message to the called terminal number, and the called terminal is notified that a voice message has been received. Thereafter, when the called terminal, which is provided with notification about the reception of the voice message, is connected to the VMS center 280, the VMS center 280 transmits the voice message, which has been stored in the VMS center 280, to the called terminal.
That is, the current voice message service, which is provided when the called mobile communication terminal cannot respond to an incoming call, is disadvantageous in that an originator must record a voice message even when it is not desired, and a recipient must pay an additional communication charge to check voice messages.
To solve these problems, a service, which transmits a paging signal from a mobile communication network to the called terminal when an originator inputs a called terminal number along with a specific symbol and then inputs a voice message, and causes the voice message, which is input by an originator, to be reproduced when the called terminal responds to the paging signal service, is being researched. However, even with the voice message transmission service, if the called terminal is powered off or is using other communication services, or a called terminal user does not respond, a reception request signal from the mobile communication network is forwarded to the VMS center 280. Accordingly, a recipient must connect with the VMS center 280 and check voice messages. As a result, this case is problematic in that a process of checking a voice message is inconvenient and an additional communication charge must be paid, like the conventional voice mailbox service.